IRU recently hosted the first meeting of the H2Accelerate TRUCKS Fuel Cell End User Group, bringing together 70 experts from Europe’s hydrogen and transport industries. Their focus: moving hydrogen trucks from pilot deployments to commercial scale.
Hydrogen fuel cell trucks offer one solution for decarbonising long-haul and heavy-payload operations where battery-electric trucks or other alternatives are not viable.
H2Accelerate TRUCKS is one of the EU's flagship projects testing this technology at scale, deploying 125 fuel cell trucks on Scandinavia–Italy corridors by 2030, alongside new high-capacity refuelling stations in France and the Netherlands. IRU, together with its members AISÖ (Austria), FIAP (Italy) and UNTRR (Romania), represents the road transport operator perspective.
The project’s End User Group brings operators and other transport stakeholders together to follow deployment progress, share operational needs and identify the conditions needed for hydrogen trucks to become a viable option for long-distance road transport.
The project's four OEM partners – Volvo, Scania, Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility and Hyliko – reported progress in vehicle range and early operations, including cold-weather trials by Volvo and Scania in northern Sweden and more than 20 million kilometres already logged by one fleet in service.
Conditions for scaling up
The discussion highlighted three conditions for scaling up: refuelling infrastructure where and when trucks need it, consistent type-approval rules across EU countries, and vehicle and hydrogen costs that fall enough to justify large fleet investment.
By spring 2028, 125 H2Accelerate TRUCKS project vehicles are expected on European roads. A second End User Group meeting will follow in 2027, once initial deployment is under way, giving operators and OEMs their first opportunity to compare real-world performance against the conditions raised at this first meeting.
To receive updates on the project and join the End User Group, contact our Research and Innovation Project Manager Silvia Barbaro.
This project has received funding from the Clean Hydrogen Partnership under Grant Agreement No 101101446. The content of this presentation reflects only the author’s view. This partnership receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation Programme.